[4][5][6] The plants are found in a variety of habitats, from coastal bluffs, oak woodlands, and grasslands, including on hillsides and in canyons, below 2,000 feet (610 m).

Coyote brush is known as a secondary pioneer plant in communities such as coastal sage scrub and chaparral.

Coast live oak, California bay, Rhus integrifolia, and other shade producing species replace coastal sage scrub and other coyote bush-dominated areas, particularly when there has not been a wildfire or heavy grazing.

Coyote bush invasion of grasslands is important because it helps the establishment of other coastal sage species.

However, establishment of coyote bush can be concerning because it also displaces highly biodiverse grassland habitat that are important to carbon storage and resilient to wildfires.

The cultivar ground cover selections have various qualities of height and spread, leaf colors, and textures.